Holden Caulfield

Holden Caulfield is the fictional teenaged protagonist in J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, first published in 1951. Holden is the brother of Phoebe, D. B. and Allie Caulfield, though Allie is dead in the time of the story. Holden's parents are unnamed. Given the assumed date the novel is set, he would have been born in approximately 1933.

Related Topics:
Fictional - Protagonist - J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye - 1951 - 1933

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The character, as Holden Morrisey Caulfield, also appears in Slight Rebellion off Madison by J.D. Salinger, published in the December 22, 1946 issue of The New Yorker. A modified version of this short story later became a chapter in The Catcher in the Rye.

Related Topics:
December 22 - 1946 - The New Yorker - Short story

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In the book, Caulfield is 17 years old and in a psychiatric hospital in the state of California. He narrates the story, which had occurred over several days during the previous year, as a first-person narrative flashback. During the course of the novel, Caulfield fights with his roommate, flunks out of the fictional Pencey Preparatory School in Pennsylvania (said to be based on the Valley Forge Military Academy, which Salinger attended), and travels by himself to New York City, where he undergoes experiences that throw him into a deep depression and eventually lead to a mental breakdown.

Related Topics:
Psychiatric hospital - California - First-person narrative - Flashback - Pennsylvania - Valley Forge Military Academy - New York City - Mental breakdown

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Among his adventures: he sends for a prostitute to come to his hotel room so he can lose his virginity, but loses his nerve at the last minute and sends her away; he runs into an older female aquaintance and tries to seduce her, but instead gets drunk and makes a fool of himself; and returns home to see his beloved little sister Phoebe, whose honesty and disappointment in him profoundly disturb his previously cocky, superior attitude.

Related Topics:
Prostitute - Virginity

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Physically, Holden is gangly and tall. Though he appears to be older than he actually is, even having some gray hair, he often acts immaturely and capriciously. He has a strong disdain for people he sees as "phony," which seems to include just about everyone and everything.

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Holden Caulfield is one of the most enduring characters in 20th century American fiction. The Catcher in the Rye was the favorite novel of Mark David Chapman, the former mental patient who murdered John Lennon.

Related Topics:
20th century - American - Fiction - Mark David Chapman - John Lennon

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The Catcher in the Rye is required reading in many high school English courses today, and has been banned from school libraries in some conservative areas of the United States.

Related Topics:
High school - Banned - Conservative

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